Old Trafford is ready to witness an electric 2nd leg tie between the city of Manchester's bitter rivals.

Are you ready for the 2nd leg of the Carling Cup tonight? Are you ready for the best game of the year!!! Well you better be ready for that!!! This game is gonna be amazing as the two bitter rivals belonging to the same city battle to earn a place in the final of Carling Cup at the Wembley Stadium tonight.

Just a recap of what happened in the 1st leg of Carling Cup: Man City won the game 2-1. Tevez scored both the goals for City and Ryan Giggs his derby goal in ages. You can read the whole review and watch the match highlights here -> 1st leg of Carling Cup at Manchester City

Team News:

Manchester United:

Rio Ferdinand is all set to feature in his first Carling Cup of the season. He has been cautioned by the FA for allegedly putting his arm on Craig Fegan (Hull City's striker) face and stopping him from gaining the possesion last weekend. Incidently, this was his first game after recovering from thigh injury and he ended up with more trouble! Rio is seriously as some people call him a 'Bad Man'. I hope his behaviour with City is kind (esp Tevez)

I will be intrgued if Fergie plays Neville against City. Neville and Tevez both received warnings from FA regarding the passing of 'ill gestures' between the players on the occasion of the 1st leg of the Carling Cup.

I expect Fergie to play a 4-4-2 formation with Rooney and Berbatov up front.

In mid-field I expect Fletcher, Scholes, Valencia and Nani to feature. I am a bit ambigous about Nani to be honest. But I think either Nani or Giggs will play. Nani is a bit aggressive player. He can run well whereas the good old Giggsy can't. So I think Fergie might play Nani for the 1st hour and then give Giggs a go for the last half an hour.

Not to forget: United have Arsenal on 31st January! So Sir Alex Ferguson has a great responsibility of keeping his side fresh for that battle too.

Manchester City

Patrik Veira is still down with ankle injury while Robinho is fit to play tonight. But I really doubt if Robinho will play after the speculations that he's going to Sau Paulo. Although I've heard that Mancini has given his Brazilian striker full freedom to do what he wants.

Adebayor is back after his side (Togo) was disqualified from African Cup of Nations following a series of tragedies in Ghana.

With Adebayor and Tevez both playing in tomorrow's game, it could be tough (if not impossible) to stop Man City from scoring.. And of course we have the crucial Craig Bellamy who can do anything!

The game will be live on Sky Sports at 8.00 PM. I'm gearing up for it. I hope you are doing the same.

On that note I would like to say thanks for reading the post and please free to add reactions and give the post some ratings (earnest ones) and you're more than welcome to drop a comment or two :)

GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED.. Go battle the Blues!

Chris Smalling will join United for the 2010/11 season

Manchester United have confirmed that they have signed a pre-contract agreement with Fulham regarding the transfer of Chris Smalling (pictured above).

The under 19 England defender has appeared in 9 games with Fulham first team and is reviewed to be a tremendous young defender. He is called to be a very mature player with incredible talent and defending abilities.

Hope he brings glory to United when he joins us in the summer.

Danny Welbeck moves to Preston on a loan till the end of the season

Danny Welbeck has made a shocking move to Preston on a loan deal between Manchester United and Preston.

Sir Alex with his young son who is the current manager of Preston North End

This move will certainly be a talking topic as Preston is managed by Darren Ferguson (Son of Sir Alex Ferguson) and his Dad gave away such a wonderful striker to his own son till the end of the season.

Preston, who are currently 17th in the Championship and 6 points ahead of relegation zone, do need some good attackers to move up some places. To make this happen, Darren has used quite a nice technique and demanding a good Manchester born striker from his very own Dad! Sir Alex also has agreed in lending off Danny for this season at least.

This is Darren's first signing as a manager of Preston and it has been quite an easy one in fact. Welbeck who has scored 5 goals for Manchester United in 24 appearances has been remarked as quite a good winger as well as an attacking striker.

Danny has featured a lot in the Carling Cup games this season and scored 1 goal already. He has even scored in the Champions League against Besiktas. He's the man to watch in the future. Please note that Danny has already signed a 4 year contract with United and hence committed to the club. He just needs some regular games under his belt.

Another popular Man United associated signing that Preston did was of David Beckham. Yes! Even David Beckham was on loan for a while at Preston in the year 1995. He scored 2 goals there in 5 appearances at that time before moving back to United in 1996-97 season. During the 10 years he spent with United, 1993-2003 , he scored 62 goals in 265 appearances. I can say without any doubt that even the man himself regrets moving to Real Madrid when he failed to find the back of the net and hence forced to move to America.. Look at him now, he's enjoying a lucrative and goal-less life in A.C. Milan!

David Beckham was on a loan at Preston North End in the year 1995 after joining United in 1993

Will be fun to see Beckham at Old Trafford in March.

But back to the Danny Welbeck loan signing, I think its a good move for both the parties. Apart from strengthening he bond between the father and the son, this move will greatly benefit Preston and Welbeck. Welbeck, at this stage of his career needs some regular games and be treated as a main striker. I don't think he would mind if its a Championship side. He can assist Preston with some handy goals in the 2nd half of the season and really strengthen their squad to take them to some new heights that Preston hasn't reached for quite a while now.

And then when Welbeck returns to Manchester United in 2010 summer, hopefully his class would be on another level and he would perhaps be respected as an all new and powerful striker.

That's what Premier League is all about!

Thanks for reading... Catchya guys before the Man City build up. Hope we can win that game and proceed to the final of Carling cup to secure at least 1 trophy for this season.

United have been famous for 2 things this season

The number of late goals scored by Manchester United FC this season have been astonishing!

Leaving apart the fantastic football they've played so far this season, I would like to touch upon two things that the Red Devils have done very masterfully this season - something that is pretty hard to find so consistently and yet has become an avatar for modern football.

Manchester United brutalize Hull City at home.. Thanks to 4 wonderful goals from Wayne Rooney

Wayne has scored 20 goals so far this season!

Manchester United 4-0 Hull City

Old Trafford

Goals: All 4 were scored by Wayne Rooney (8', 82', 86', 90)

United go on top of the Premier League table after winning in a very stunning fashion against Hull city at home. It was a really intriguing contest between the two teams with Hull City constantly breaking United's possession and looking dangerous at times too.

This was Rooney's fourth hat-trick, the last one coming against Porstmouth last year in November. He scored a hat-trick on his Champions League debut in 2004. He has also scored a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers a few years ago.

With this win, United go on top with Arsenal and Chelsea behind. Now all the 3 teams have equal Goal difference (=34) and have exceeded 50 goals so far this season. All is going good for United. According to me, whoever hits form at this stage of the season takes the title. Now what United needs is a significant run of victories...

United have a huge uphill task of defeating Arsenal next weekend (31st January, 2009 - Sunday) at their very home to cement their top position. On the other hand, I will be hoping Chelsea loses a few games ahead. Chelsea has a a very challenging month ahead. They face Birmingham City the coming Wednesday. They have highly crucial games in February. They face Arsenal on 7th Feb and Manchester City 20 days later. But the sad news is that both the games are at Stamford Bridge, which leaves both the visiting teams with a huge task.

Now moving our focus back to today's game and stop thinking about future fixtures, I have plenty to remark on United's performance today. They were really menacing out there and greatly urged and motivated by Sir Alex to go there and grab a win. They've scored a total of 7 goals against Hull City this season. The minnows have been really badly beaten this time.

So who played for United today? Van Der Sar was in the box this afternoon. United had Rio Ferdinand back from injury who was supported by Jonathan Evans as a Central Defender. Rafael and Evra played as right back and left back respectively. Fergie played Fletcher and Scholes as Central mid-fielders and Park on the left and NANI! (surprisingly) as a winger too! But no doubt Nani was awesome and those 4 goals came somewhat due to his rare extra-ordinary performance too. He justified his £15 million transfer fee from Sporting Lisbon in 2007. Michael Owen (another shocking player) was partnered with Wayne Rooney up front to completely murder Hull City!

Some briefing on goals: Wayne Rooney opened the scoring from a lovely 8th minute goal. It could have been easily from Paul Scholes who shooted from a good 30 yard (maybe more) distance. The goalie managed to get a hand on it but Wayne Rooney did no mistake to poach the ball home very vigilantly and not hastily as he sometimes does. Whenever Wayne plays in a composed manner and doesn't shoot in a rush, he scores! I hope he remains fit throughout the season because United needs him... I won't be surprised if he gets 40+ goals this season.

The last 3 goals came in the last 10 minutes! The second goal came after Nani's free kick tremored the bar and Hull City still gave away the possesion to United. Nani then played wonderfully to Gibson who then passed to Wayne who was ever-ready to score. Rooney striked yet again and this time it was hammered past Myhill- the superman goalie!

The hat-trick goal came off from a wonderful header set by the fantastic winger - Nani. The 4th goal was absolutely fantastic! Berbatov set Rooney up with a lovely flick in the box and Rooney actually murdered the ball into the goal beating 3 players; the ball went right between the two defenders and beated Myhill too. Stunning effort!

The serious part of the game came in the 48th minute of the match when the the Linesman was tripped down by Craig Fagan when Johny Evans was defending the ball and was shoulder to shoulder with Craig. Incidently Craig was later battered by Rio Ferdinand (this wasn't seen by the Ref BTW) and funny enough, Fagan was later booked as well! Bad day for the lad.

Player Ratings:

Van Der Sar: 7- Made a couple of great saves, but otherwise didn't get that many chances to impress really.

Rio Ferdinand: 6.5 - I personally didn't admire his knock on Craig Faegan when darren Gibson had a wonderful chance to score. Had the Ref seen the offence, he would have been off I tell you.

Evans: 6- Again, looked vulnerable at times. Nearly conceded a goal after a stupid header back to Van Der Sar.

Rafael: 6 - Was Ok through out the game

Evra: 7 - The all-rounder. Did what he was supposed to do at the right instants.

Nani: 8 - I would like to congratulate him on his comeback after missing so many games. He was absolutely amazing.. I wish he had scored from the free-kick.. he certainly looked like Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm sure Ronaldo will be happy to see him perform well.

Fletcher: 7.5 - Typical good performance. Lived upto the expectations.

Scholes: 8.5 - He was the main guy leading United's attack, could have scored from the wonderful shoot in the 7th minute when Rooney poached the goal and did the job. He really was on top of his game and that's why he's still here at United even though he's 35 and really should have retired had he wished to!

Park 5.5- I was shocked he made it to first 11 this afternoon. He really played below average and should have been sub-ed by Valencia. But I think Fergie wanted some fresh legs against Man City in Carling Cup's 2nd leg.

Owen - 7 - Had two glorious chances to score. Guess what? (the guess is easy) He missed both the chances. His passing was amazing, he was vigilant. But can someone explain to him that you're really meant to shoot with a bit more power. I think he should try some Feng Shui to be honest!

Berba: 7.5 - Was substituted for Owen and really deserved to score when some people said he was off-side. But he proved to the crowd that he can prove to be a valuable substitute with his clever flicks and can easily outrun tired defenders. He flicked an amazing ball to Rooney with the help of which Rooney scored his 20th goal of the season!

Wayne Rooney - 10 - I rarely give 10/10 but this guy really deserved it! He scored his 20th goal of the 2009-2010 campaign.. He deserves to score 30 more!

A vote of thanks to Nani who was awesome today! I wished he had scored today.. He really deserved to score.

We have a couple of important games coming up next week:

United vs Manchester City

2nd Leg of Carling Cup Semi-final

27th January, 2010

KO 8.00 PM GMT

Arsenal vs Manchester United

Premier League

31st January, 2010

KO 4.00 PM GMT

So join us for the build up to the games and Hope United wins both of them.

GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED AND THE REDS KEEP MARCHING ON ON ON !!

The first leg of Carling Cup ends in an embarrassing defeat for United

Traitor!

Hero of the game: Carlos Tevez scored 2 vital goals to put City in front. He was later declared Man of the Match as well.

Man City 2-1 Man Utd

The game ended 2-1 in a very exciting fashion. This was Robert Mancini's (the new Man City manager) first ever Manchester Derby and after securing a famous victory it has turned out to be quite a proud one.

Ryan Giggs opened the scoring with a rather easy goal. It was actually Rooney's strike which was deflected off the goalie Shay Given and Ryan Giggs then did no mistake to give United a 1-0 lead.

Carlos Tevez then equalised from the penalty spot. Fabio held Bellamy from his shirt and continued to 'badly' mark him inside the penatly box; as a result of which he was booked and United conceded a penalty.

The Argentine scored again in the second half from the header. I must say the United defence looked shaky then and they deserved to concede that goal, not sure about the penalty totally. Tevez's celebration was quite remarkable after both the goals.. After his second goal, he ran till the half line and then put his hands over his ears... something like this:

The famous Cup celebration

But of course! in a blue t-shirt... He didn't over do it though as he didn't want to hurt the 'sentiments' of United fans.

Overall, I felt United were not very versatile in the beginning of the 2nd half. They weren't that alert due to which they conceded the second goal.

Now in order to reach the finals of the Carling Cup, United need to either of the following:

a) Win 1-0..

a) Win 2-1 to take the game to extra time..

b) By winning the game by a goal difference of 2 would do the job if they concede..

THEY NEED TO WIN THE 2ND LEG IN ANY CASE BY A MARGIN OF AT LEAST 1 GOAL AND NOT CONCEDE ANY. IF THEY CONCEDE A GOAL, THEN THEN NEED TO WIN BY A MARGIN OF 2 GOALS.

Glory Glory Man United... Hope we are fantastic on the weekend against Hull City.

The battle of Manchester begins tomorrow in the Crucial Carling cup game at the Eastlands

United face Man City tomorrow at the Eastlands and this is quite a big game for both the teams. This game was supposed to be played on 6th of January but due to heavy snowfall in Manchester, the game had to be postponed to the 19th of January. It is the first leg of the Carling Cup Semi-final and its a great chance for City to register a win here and keep their hopes of winning a trophy after a long long time. But of course! that won't be easy as they face THE GREAT MANCHESTER UNITED.

United team news

The real worry for the team for the tomorrow's fixture will be Dimitar Berbatov and Ryan Giggs. Both are down with injuries. Berbatov might be needing an operation on his knee soon but it's great that he's still tolerating the pain and avoiding the surgery so that he can play for united.

Rio Ferdinand might be featuring in tomorrow's game but it's really touch and go. He's been training really hard and very eager to come back.

Owen Hargreaves still has some time to raise his confidence levels.

City team news

Santa Cruz has been ruled out from tomorrow's game because of a calf injury and may take a good 1 and a half month to recover. So that limits City's attacking options. But they have Tevez up front who is in his best form of the season.

Roberto Mancini is excited about the derby game tomorrow and believes that Manchester City can certain become bigger than their rivals and outclass them tomorrow. Ha! what a dreamer.

It will be interesting to see what kind of formation and players he plays tomorrow. Till now he's been giving the youngsters a try at the Carling cup, but will his tactics change against Man City?

I personally feel he should play Owen and Diouf and see how their partnership goes. After we've seen a nice harmony between Dimitar and Wayne, having a second choice is actually great!

As far as the defenders go, Sir Alex should not take a risk and pick his top choice.. He might wanna give Foster a chance after his bid to go back to Spurs was rejected earlier today.

In the midfield he should play, Obertan, Scholes and Fletcher and Giggs (or Valencia).. He could have Rooney on the bench who could come on as a sub for Owen. But I hope United thrash City tomorrow without Rooney.

Predicted score: United wins 3-1. Owen, Fletcher and Giggs to score.

I feel sad for Michael Owen for the way he's been treated at Manchester United

I don't know why Michael Owen hasn't been played in the last 3-4 games which included a 1-0 shocking defeat to ex-derby team - Leeds United.

I will be shocked to know if the reason is politics since Fergie supports the cause of sending this brilliant England Striker who has been neglected since March 2008 by the Italian manager - Fabio Capello.

On the other hand, Dimitar Berbatov has been incorporated in the team a bit too many times. He doesn't deserve to be in United starting eleven for the 3 consecutive teams. I'm not saying he's a waste of a player but because there are better players than him (eg Owen) who must be given a chance often.

Berbatov has been shown the red flag too many times and it seems he has improved on his game a little (if nothing at all). He scores easy goals and celebrates as if he's scored a mind-boggling one! He has nothing more than 5 months to prove his value at United. Now is it intelligent to play him instead of Owen (who is a proven gem).

I really ponder why Owen is neglected by both Fergie and Capalo. Michael has been recommended Feng Shui by former England Cricketer and famous commentator - Geoffrey Boycott. Boycott wrote to Michael that he should try the Chinese remedy to help him give a little edge to spark up his game and attract the likes of critics and hopefully ruthless Fabio Capello too.

Hope Michael scores more hat-tricks and brings more glory to Manchester United.

Hail Michael! Hail Jersery number 7!!!

Wayne Rooney may be the Next United Captain once Gary Neville has retired

The Next United Captain?

Wayne Rooney, 24, is reportedly told to be the next captain of Manchester United once Neville retires at the end of this season.

Wayne Rooney has no experience as a captain at United. He has only featured once as a losing Captain against Brazil in a friendly International at Doha.

However, United manager Alex Ferguson, once said that he would prefer either a defender or a Midfielder as a United leader. It will be interesting to see how things shape up after Neville's exit from United.

Rooney has been a huge success since he was bought from Everton in 2002. He has scored whooping 112 goals (from all competitions) in his 261 named appearances. Of course nobody can beat that! But the question is: Will he be a successful captain at United?

Have your say through comments.....

Glory Glory Man United and Happy New Year to all....